tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post8182872454693249125..comments2023-10-26T03:19:41.569-07:00Comments on Stephen Bodio's Querencia: Why We Need Wildlife ServicesSteve Bodiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434597061701369867noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-34057930077402967772013-12-24T09:50:05.593-08:002013-12-24T09:50:05.593-08:00Thanks for the response, Cat, and MARY XMASS! Be s...Thanks for the response, Cat, and MARY XMASS! Be sure and doublecheck yer feed troughs for swaddlin' infants tonight!.....L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-91877793423604718952013-12-23T12:41:01.715-08:002013-12-23T12:41:01.715-08:00Unfortunately, we need a Wildlife Services agency ...Unfortunately, we need a Wildlife Services agency that actually provides a service that adheres to the best possible practices. Which we obviously do not have in Wyoming.<br /><br />http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/feds-investigation-into-wyoming-trapper-will-remain-private/article_abd0b683-3efc-5269-b992-e215c15bff64.html<br /><br />TobinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-89177838978613163112013-12-21T15:04:37.409-08:002013-12-21T15:04:37.409-08:00Lane, that's a great story - the dogs know far...Lane, that's a great story - the dogs know far more about dangers in the dark than we do.<br /><br />As for compensation, Defenders dropped out of that about three years ago. Once states took over management, any compensation programs offered are determined by the state, and funded by the state.<br /><br />Federal Wildlife Services is allowed to use hounds in control actions, but in our case, no hounds were available. We have a private houndsman who lives about seven miles from us who hunts bears in Idaho, but it's illegal for a sportsman to do in Wyoming. That is what drove me crazy - a couple of bear hounds were just up the road, but we weren't allowed to call them in.<br /><br />Anonymous, how on earth can I respond to such praise? I am humbled, and I thank you.Cat Urbigkithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12649103651692682453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-7374280162380602542013-12-21T14:04:20.966-08:002013-12-21T14:04:20.966-08:00This post really deserves wider publication, I thi...This post really deserves wider publication, I think it's the best thing I've seen on the web in weeks! Great writing, great topic, great conclusions. Doctoral thesis stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-35909471437129964222013-12-20T05:51:01.633-08:002013-12-20T05:51:01.633-08:00.....my "dog blocking incident" occurred........my "dog blocking incident" occurred many years ago, and involved the two WOLF HYBRIDS I had at the time! Yeah, kinda ironic, I know, in a post about wolf depredation and guardian dogs kept partially for the repelling of wolves! Well, I guess it just depends what pack you belong to, as to where your loyalties lie! Anyway, at the time I only had these two animals, both very bonded to each other and me, both approxiamately half wolf. I never let them run loose unattended, and so felt obligated to take them for a good run in the mountains behind where I lived at the time, EVERY NIGHT. And I emphasize NIGHT, as the area was getting so developed(we eventually were driven out by civilization!), that nighttime was the only safe time to go for a run in such company! Running around at night with wolf hybrids gets you accused of practicing lycanthropy eventually(as I can testify to). I digress again--anyway, one night, we were headed up the main ridge system, when first one wolf dog, then the other, literally blocked the trail we were on, and I had to forcibly push them aside to keep going--something they'd never done before. Then, in turns, they did it AGAIN, while looking me straight in the eye, also something they didn't usually do(moonlight making this obvious even to my dull, human self). I was actually(dull human) getting aggravated by it, especially when they did it a THIRD time! It finally sunk in my thick skull that they DID NOT want me to proceed(usually they didn't want to ever stop going!), and when I turned around to head back down the mountain, they were giddy with happiness, bouncing around and whining excitedly--EAGER to GO HOME for a change! I never knew WHY they did this, or WHAT might have been ahead on the trail(there are black bear in the area sometimes, maybe a rabid animal? Or some weirdo aggressive human out at night? Not for the kettle to call the pot black here....), and they never did this again. But "unscientific" as it may be, I'm convinced there was SOMETHING dangerous ahead on that trail that night.......L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-68287803282703129332013-12-20T05:33:57.710-08:002013-12-20T05:33:57.710-08:00Yes, a GREAT article. It confuses me, though, that...Yes, a GREAT article. It confuses me, though, that depredations from wolves killed in a designated "trophy" area are compensated, but others are not?????? Is it because hunters paying for hunting liscences help pay the compensation? Is the wolf reintroduction honeymoon over so that groups like Defenders of Wildlife are no longer compensating ranchers? I realize it may just be PR propaganda, but I thought they would compensate for ANY proven wolf caused livestock depredations? And it doesn't make sense that traps and poison can be utilized by the feds, but not HOUNDS? As if being trailed and held at bay(ultimately to be shot) is crueler or less humane or efficient than a leghold trap or poison? Seems like there could be a niche for a professional houndsman in there somewhere(not sporthunting houndsmen, if such offends the publics' sensibilities, but a professional that only targets the livestock depredators).....And I have a similar "anecdote" about two of my dogs blocking my path in a manner not unlike your Guardian dog--I'll relate that in another post....to be cont.....L.B.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-47018810496206448422013-12-20T03:50:02.947-08:002013-12-20T03:50:02.947-08:00Brian - thanks for the update on the taking of dep...Brian - thanks for the update on the taking of depredating eagles for falconry. It seems to constantly be a struggle, and I hope this will eventually be resolved (again!).<br /><br />Steve: The dog incident was a big one for me. I was madder than a hornet when he kept knocking me down or hitting his body against my legs so I couldn't move (he'd never done that before, but I guess he'd never had a reason). When I finally made it through the willows (stupidly unarmed - had left the pistol in the truck) I realized why he had behaved that way. I never doubted his judgment again.Cat Urbigkithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12649103651692682453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-75334743478031487032013-12-18T18:45:55.092-08:002013-12-18T18:45:55.092-08:00Wonderful post, Cat, and one that deserves much la...Wonderful post, Cat, and one that deserves much larger circulation than our little blog, demonstrating the real world of running herds with the natural predatory fauna. <br /><br />Most urban- raised enviros are reflexively anti- rancher, and of a certainty, believe that ranchers are compensated for all their losses (I only know of ONE compensated case here-- you may well have it better!)<br /><br />The other thing that moves me is your matter- of - fact description of dog cognizance: "the closest I got was one day when one of the guardian dogs knocked me to the ground in an effort to keep me from going through the willows where the bear had just killed sheep". <br /><br />This will be called sentimental or "anecdotal" but is no surprise to anyone who works with intelligent self- starting dogs in a real, sensorily complex, environment.<br /><br />Eagles later. They have apparently ceded a thirty - year right to kill eagles to the power company, let the tribes do as they wish, and revoked the SIX live trapping eagle permits, a number never filled by falconers, for--??-- apparently, those thirty years. If I didn't have PD I think I would move to Kazakhstan.Steve Bodiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14434597061701369867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732486.post-13785313246152890132013-12-18T09:08:42.894-08:002013-12-18T09:08:42.894-08:00Cat; great article! but I want to point out that ...Cat; great article! but I want to point out that at this writing, regarding golden eagles, the USFWS is not issuing permits to take depredating golden eagles because in their opinion, the windmills (wind energy generators) are doing so much damage to the eagle population that they cannot possibly allow falconers to take 6 eagles per year. In the past, as many as 11 golden eagles (per year) were taken by falconers, thus taking care of a known depredation problem and helping eagle falconers obtain birds to fly, a win win for ranchers and falconers and it was all done legally as permitted in the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Now, USFWS internal "politics" has effectively eliminated that possibility by refusing to issue permits that are allowed for in the Eagle Act (an Act of Congress)The State of WY and eagle falconers across the country stand ready to resume eagle trapping in declared depredation ares defined by Wildlife Services.<br />Brian Kelloggnoreply@blogger.com